Andre Kertesz and Jan Van Eyck

Andre Kertesz and Jan Van Eyck
It is surprising to see what element and principles of design that seem to survive the passing generations. In the case of Jans Van Eyck, a Flemish painter working in the age of the Renaissance, and Andre Kertesz, a functioning photographer at nearly the beginning of the age of photography, the same elements and principles of design can be discovered. Much can be said about the differences and similarities of this Renaissance painter and modern photographer in an elegant way. For this paper, I will discuss three distinctive ways in which Jans Van Eyck and Andre Kertesz can be compared. The first comparison can be made in the mystery of the figures in their respective works. The second comparison is the attention to detail. And the third is in the choice of medium.
Jans Van Eyck’s work was revolutionary in use of symbols. Undoubtedly, Renaissance painters used symbolism in their work, but it seemed that nearly everything in Van Eyck’s work carried two or three meanings. In the case of The Arnolfini Portrait, the symbols seem to be infinite. The Arnolfini Portrait is one of the most debated and discussed images in art history. Because of its peculiar nature of symbolic structure and the mystery of its figures, The Arnolfini Portrait becomes one of the great works of Van Eyck. It is a common idea that the figures are Givanni Arnolfini and his wife. It is also commonly believed that this is supposedly a portrait of their wedding day, or perhaps a recreation of their wedding way. Some historians argue that this was not so, but it was rather a memorial of his wife who had died in childbirth. Therefore it was a portrait of both a dead and a living person. Some agree, but do not necessarily agree with the assumption that she was pregnant, but that the act of raising her dress, she is symbolically proving her purity to the saints. Because of the slippery nature of the history of the figures and their fate, the piece begins to convey a bleakness or misery for was has happened, or for what will surely come; the early death of a beautiful woman.
This theme can also be found in Andre Kertesz work. Kertesz began his photographic career as a romantic, much like Julia Margaret Cameron. His work quickly turned into a study of intimacy, The Tender Touch is one of the most famous early photographs. Because of its popularity, he became widely recognized as an artist, and as his love for modernism grew, he too experimented with such elements of design as line, shadow, space, and proportion. Much to the enthusiasm of the art community, he was convinced to move from Europe with his deeply beloved wife, Elizabeth, to New York. He received mediocre praise. This was devastating to Kertesz, but the companionship of his wife was a great comfort. Unfortunately, she died at a young age of cancer which devastated Kertesz. Shortly after her death, he found two busts made of glass in a thrift store, and photographed them habitually. Suddenly, it becomes clear that these figures remind Kertesz of him and his wife. Much like Van Eyck, his famous portraits are possible memorials, and take on bleakness as they document the death of a beautiful woman.
It is true that both artists use attention to detail, but they use it in entirely different ways. In Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Marriage symbolism compels Van Eyck to consider every object in his composition, whether it be the number of candles lit, to the way the backs of figures would look in a convex mirror, to the fur lining and fabric on each figure; everything has a reason. Even in his simpler portraits such as the Portrait of a Man in a Turban, the folds of the fabric, the hanging of the skin on a skull, it all has a distinct purpose. Even the nonobjective background does something sobering to the figure.
So it is with Kertesz. Although his work does not have as much to look at, what is being portrayed has a distinct purpose. In his photograph La Fourchette only two objects are being displayed, but more is being portrayed than just two objects. The piece becomes about the arch of the fork, the line it makes, the shadow it casts. The color is reduced to a tone, which prioritizes the architecture of the plate and fork in relation to one another.
The final comparison this paper will discuss is the use of medium. Jas Van Eyck, in The Arnolfini Marriage began using the revolutionary medium of oil rather than the commonly used tempera. This new medium, foreign to Van Eyck, must have stretched his capability. So it was with Andre Kertesz. As Photography made its long journey from being used for science to being used for art, Kertez was doing his part in order for photography to make its transition. He began readjusting his eyes to the modern sensibility and focused his perception of art accordingly. The photography medium was almost unforgiving in this aspect. So both artists struggled in their craft to redefine their artistic sensibilities.